9 Moments from 2014 That Prove Indigenous People Are Still Shaping America

It was a
remarkable year for indigenous Americans. In Canada and the United States
especially, gains made in the political, social and creative spheres have
catapulted Natives to the forefront of cultural innovation and prominence.

This is not
unfamiliar territory. After more than 500 years of plunder and death at the hands of
European colonizers, the refusal of these strong nations to fade or submit is impossible to ignore — and vital to our identity as North Americans.

The past year was
no exception. Like many underrepresented groups, social media and the Internet have given Natives new platforms to share their experiences. Visibility
has grown as a result: From the reservations of South Dakota to the boulevards
of northeast Los Angeles, indigenous voices that were once marginalized are now taking center stage, assuming a vital role in cultural conversations that had grown
accustomed to turning the other way.

"People finally
have a voice," MC RedCloud, a Native hip-hop artist and activist from Southern
California, told Mic recently. "Everyone has a Twitter account ... now people can say, 'Look:
they're over there in L.A. and they care about what's going on in Canada.' It's
a movement of solidarity among all indigenous people."

Perhaps more
than ever, indigenous North Americans are making the world pay attention to
what they have to say. Here are nine ways they've done so — powerfully and profoundly
— in 2014:

1. They showed us the real meaning of
beauty.

The contestants in
this year's Miss America pageant spent a good portion of their time playing with plastic
cups and strutting across the stage in bikinis. The women of the Miss Indian World competition, meanwhile, fixed
snowmobiles, shot bows and arrows and spent the rest of their time raising
awareness around Native pride and diversity.

The latter
contest, a celebration of indigenous women across the globe, shifted our focus
away from whitened teeth and spray tans and back to what really matters: Brains,
character and commitment to community. And America is a better place for it.

2. They changed the way we think about
American food.

Of the 990,000
restaurants in the U.S., the cuisine most conspicuously missing is that of Native
Americans. But Sean Sherman, Nephi Craig and a slew of other chefs are
changing that — Craig's restaurant on the White Mountain Apache reservation in
Arizona and Sherman's upcoming eatery in Minnesota's Twin Cities, the Sioux Chef, are reshaping our notions of what
American food is and can be.

Their emphasis
on regional foods reflects the uniqueness and diversity of the original
indigenous nations. It's an important — and long overdue — addition to our food
landscape.

3. They broke world records.

Congrats to my boy @redcloud1491 for breaking the #GuinessWorldRecord for freestyle rap. He freestyled... http://instagram.com/p/wClWxuCn_P/

MC RedCloud took the stage Nov. 29 at the Airliner performance venue in Los
Angeles and freestyle rapped for over 17 hours, breaking the Guinness record. This would be impressive on its own, but the indigenous MC took the
extra step of spending the last hour naming each of the 1,200 indigenous women
who've gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the past 30 years.

His fusion of
artistic drive and activism make him a sterling example of what musicians can
do to fight social injustice.

4. They reshaped American politics.

Congrats to #Arizona's Diane Humetewa - confirmed today as the first Native American woman to ever serve on the federal bench!

In May, Diane
Humetewa made history
when she was appointed the first Native American female federal judge in U.S.
history. On top of that, she highlighted the troubling disparity in Native
representation in American politics: Of the thousands of officials elected
throughout U.S. history, only 23 have been indigenous.

Here's to more
like Humetewa effecting change in our governing bodies — if anyone should have a
political voice, it's those whose land was stolen in the first place.

5. They showed us the violence of American
geography.

The story of American
state borders is a story of land theft and plunder. But what if the original indigenous
nations had kept their autonomy and territory? Native cartographer Aaron
Carapella's research is essential to figuring this out.

To illustrate, here's
a map
— created this year — imagining what a still-indigenous America might look
like:

6. They brought new voices to popular
music.

In March, MTV's
Iggy blog introduced
a remarkable new musical voice — Christian Parrish Takes the Gun,
otherwise known as Supaman. The indigenous MC, who hails from the Crow Nation
reservation near Billings, Montana, fuses Native instruments and fancy dancing
with the rhythmic and verbal stylings of hip-hop.

And he's not
alone: Frank Waln, Inez Jasper, Nataanii Means and Witko were all featured
on a recent episode of MTV's Rebel Music series, which explored their musical
contributions in the context of broader challenges facing Natives: disproportionate
rates of poverty, substance abuse, depression and suicide, among others.

These are important voices in popular music, and their growing prominence is not just deeply
deserved, it's essential to the continuing relevance of American music.

7. They put an entire professional sports industry on its heels.

Here's one of those times when the phrase "Only in Cleveland" is actually an understatement. #Cleveland #Indians pic.twitter.com/rFlzrqNz4q

From the
Washington Redskins to the Cleveland Indians and beyond, pro sports teams have
been extremely cavalier in their appropriation of indigenous faces, bodies and
iconography for decades. It's been years in the making, but 2014 saw a
remarkable swell in pressure — spurred by indigenous activists — to reclaim these
images from the hands of the (mostly) wealthy white men who routinely profit
from them.

From campaigns
like #NotYourMascot and #NotARedskin
to #DeChiefing
(in which Indians fans remove the racist Chief Wahoo symbol from their team
paraphernalia) Natives and allies have been unambiguous in their
message: We are human beings, not mascots.

8. They destroyed the myths we've built
around our national holidays.

Due largely to
Native activists, many cities in 2014 have dealt major
blows to the federally sanctioned recognition of Christopher Columbus' "discovery"
of North America. Minneapolis and Seattle two examples of
municipalities that think lauding a man who claimed land already inhabited by
millions of people as his own, then killed them, is not
quite right.

The alternative
they've presented is Indigenous Peoples' Day, in recognition of Native peoples'
contributions to American society and culture. Hopefully, plenty of others
follow suit in the coming years. It's about time.

9. They gave voice to one of the biggest
tragedies of the last 30 years.

Tina
Fontaine, Loretta
Saunders: These are but two of the over 1,200 indigenous women who've gone
missing or been murdered in Canada in the past 30 years. Stephen Harper's
government has been remarkably ineffectual on the issue, but huge coalitions of
Natives and supporters have exerted pressure — both in the real world
and online — to effect change around the tragedy.

Memorial remains on the Alexander Docks after last night's vigil and walk for Tina Fontaine and Far on Hall. #cvcmb pic.twitter.com/8ZoI2nRBPA

One of the
demands is for an official government inquiry into the problem — one fueled
by a troubling set of risk factors, including disproportionate poverty rates. But
as officials stand idly by, it's clear that any real change will
come from the grassroots level. And considering that indigenous women are 4% of
Canada's population but 12% and 16% of missing and murdered women, respectively,
it cannot come soon enough.

These are just
nine of the many ways indigenous people made their indelible mark on 2014. By
all indications, this is just the beginning: As remarkable as this past year
was, 2015 stands to be even more so.